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LETTERS: Letlow, Please Support PBM Reforms!

Writer's picture: Staff @ LPRStaff @ LPR

Dear editor,

 

For patients and their caregivers, improving access to and reducing the out-of-pocket costs for life-changing medications and treatments is one of the most important issues legislators in Washington can tackle this year. With little time left on the legislative calendar, Congress needs to make this a priority—and Representative Julia Letlow should help lead the charge.

 

One of the best things Congress could do to address this problem would be to pass legislation that reins in and reforms the harmful, profit-driven practices insurers and their Pharmacy Benefit Managers use to the detriment of patient access and affordability. Because PBM profits are linked to the price of prescription drugs, current PBM policies steer health plans and patients to higher-cost medications and away from more affordable treatments.

 

Not only that, but these groups also go out of their way to withhold valuable discounts and rebates on prescription drugs rather than passing those savings down to patients to help them reduce out-of-pocket expenses. These actions are especially concerning at a time when patients in Louisiana and across the country are finding it harder and harder to keep up with these rising costs.

 

Representative Letlow should help pass the Protecting Patients Against PBM Abuses Act to reform PBMs and the unfair practices they use that put their own profits over the wellbeing of millions of patients. This is a critical issue for patients and voters alike—and it’s one that Congress has to address before time runs out on this legislative session.


Don Willard

Ferriday, LA

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